friends over fears
Watching the movie Argo tonight I was reminded of all the good Democratic governments our USA government has help to overthrow over the years, Guatemala, Haiti, Chile, Iran and Honduras to name a few. In each case violent governments have emerged in these countries, sometimes to come back and hurt us. The old saying of “what goes around come around” or that “chickens come home to roast” seem to be true.
Whenever a government or group of people decide they know what is best for another government or their own government and take violent means to achieve their end, more violence erupts. When will ever learn violence begets violence.
Tonight at fish fry with Pat and a friend we got talking with our waitress. Talking about family she mentioned her father had suffered terribly from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how once, as a child, she had to talk him out of suicide. She mentioned how children, like her, of a parent suffering from such a disorder, have picked up bits and pieces of the disorder herself. Our friend talked about the increasing number of suicides amidst veterans and active soldiers in the military. Witnessing violence and killing or killing one self is an illness that affects the life of person and family and friends seriously. Violence begets violence.
If violence brings more violence the opposite is also true, nonviolent love begets nonviolent true. Our ‘old friends’, Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi would be horrified of what we call ‘nonviolent training’ today. It consists mostly of talk or keeping silent if an issue is controversial, maybe a protest or two or signing a petition. Only a few risk arrest, commit civil disobedience or face suffering and insults from expressing nonviolent love.
So the ‘powers that be’ create fear and a false peace based on military strength. While we get distracted on so many issues fear lingers on and patriotism means encouraging gun ownership and fighting in a war for education right not because you believe in it.
Tomorrow I am running some errors with two men, one who spent eleven years in the military and suffers from a mental illness and one that has struggled all his life with his mental illnesses. Many of my friends today suffer from illnesses of mind, body or soul. However what we all understand instinctively is friends help overcome fears.
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